1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an insulated barrel cooler. More specifically, this invention relates to an insulated cylindrical beer keg cooler jacket with a plurality of pockets within the jacket that contain plastic bags of water or other refreezeable liquid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is generally known and a common practice to cool beer kegs (e.g., ponies, quarter barrels, half barrels, tappers and the like) by immersing the keg in an open container such as a washtub or cut down 55 gallon drum filled with ice. Such a practice is somewhat inconvenient, messy and involves considerable effort and labor before and after use. In the past, several cooler devices have been proposed with limited commercial success as alternatives to the bathtub of ice concept. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,443,397 and 3,614,875 disclose beer keg coolers essentially involving a bag filled with ice completely surrounding the barrel. However, such devices do not solve the inherent problem associated with disposing of the water produced after the ice melts, nor do these devices represent a significantly insulated apparatus. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,344,303 a beverage container cooler is disclosed for keeping individual servings of beverage cold by use of a foamed insulated layer or external cup such as the contemporary popular beer can insulator, but with a plurality of fluid containing cavities embedded within the foam and filled with "blue ice" that can be frozen before use. However, such a device is not structurally amenable to being scaled up to the beer keg application.